Junkie
by charlieh07
Summary: Gene/Alex. Slight spoilers up to and inc. ep 6. Two people unexplainably drawn to and addicted to each other, but will they ever be able to admit it?
1. Wine

Freezing, her body succumbing to the cold. The Bowie Clown filling her vision, flickering to a familiar rugged face, then back again. Strong arms lifting her, faint sights and sounds filtering through the fog in her mind. Roughened hands pumping her chest, pushing her limp curls back off her face. Warm breath coming in short bursts, tickling her cheek. Opening her eyes to see Gene Hunt hovering inches above her, face a mask of relief, frustration and something indefinable. 

She'd seen that expression again later, in the hallway when she'd accepted Evan's offer of a lift to the hospital in place of Gene's pre-arranged escort home. And then he'd stumbled over his goodbye, got his words all mixed up - something she never thought she'd live to see. 

It was almost endearing really, quite the "stiff-upper-lip" romantic hero. . . It always amazed her how this Neanderthal, this most alpha of the alpha males could inspire in her such conflicting feelings; one minute she'd want to slap him right across his arrogant face, the next she'd be desperate to throw herself into his arms. The man was an enigma. One she was determined to crack.

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An ordinary end to an extraordinary day for Gene Hunt and his motley crew. Settling back against the bar with foaming pint in hand, the DCI cast a critical eye over his men. Chris and Ray were reprising "Mr Chatterbox's Shotgun Dance™", much to the delight of the assembled plod, while Shaz buried her head in her hands. Gene smacked his lips together in satisfaction; only Bolly-knickers was missing, which he was somewhat grateful for - he didn't particularly want to find out if she'd seen his "work of art". 

Hunt glared at his young WPC - it had to be her, Raymondo and Christopher didn't have the brains or the balls to go rummaging through a senior officer's private areas. Although he mused, there was a certain police officer he wouldn't mind investigating his drawers . . . Gene mentally kicked himself, as he drained the last of his bitter - none of that nancy-boy spirit and soda for him -, those kind of thoughts were what nearly got him into hot water earlier. 

He was about to signal to Luigi for some of his very best house rubbish, when he noted with some surprise an open bottle of red and a half full glass waiting for him. Gene suppressed a horrified groan. The waiting wine could only mean one thing - Bolly had arrived.

"Hello Gene," the familiar voice purred.

Rolling his eyes, he turned to face her, whereupon they nearly popped out of his skull.

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When Gene finally regained the power of speech - after several minutes of vigorous coughing and spluttering - the first words that came out of his mouth were no surprise to Alex.

"Bloody hell Bolly, I can nearly see yer breakfast,"

Almost word for word the first thing he had ever said to her. Alex smiled; her carefully selected outfit was obviously having the desired effect. Turning her back on him, she made sure to lean forward, bending slightly, so the red silk rode that little bit higher up the back of her thighs. A small smile graced her lips as she imagined his stormy eyes moving upwards, tracing the progress of her skirt. Such a predictably _male _man wasn't her usual type, yet there was something about Gene that just kept drawing her in, a raw sexuality beneath the hard-man exterior.

She nodded her thanks to Luigi as he placed a fresh glass in her hand, and poured herself a generous helping of red, before turning back to her superior officer.

"Something wrong Gene?"

Alex could barely prevent an amused giggle escaping her, as she watched him drag his eyes back up to her face and swallow audibly.

"No no, not at all Bols, not with me anyway. Just, its just,"

She raised one perfectly arched eyebrow as he tripped over his own tongue, and cleared his throat once, twice, three times, before he spoke again.

"Its just that some of the er, other clients of this establishment might think you're actually a Tom dressed like that. Whereas I know you're only a posh mouthy tart, with too many brains in her pretty little head and not enough common sense."

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Her hand collided gently with his cheek in a playful slap, but to Gene it was like her touch burned through him to his very core, as her fingers rested on his unshaven cheek for perhaps a fraction of a second longer than they should have. Suddenly he couldn't look her in those frustrating, maddeningly gorgeous eyes; he was almost afraid of what he might see there.

Gulping the last of his wine, he pulled away from her and straightened up quickly.

"I need a bloody fag. Raymondo, care to join me?"

As he waited for his bumbling DS to pull himself together, Gene risked a quick look at Alex, and immediately wished he hadn't. She looked utterly confused, totally lost and a little sad. He turned on his heel swiftly and strode out of the restaurant without a backward glance.


	2. Cigarettes

**A/N: **Thankyou for all the kind reviews, they keep my muse alive. And so this chapter is for skipdale, Mc Fish, CityofDaydreams, Gem6 and premierludwig. Hope you like this next chapter!

And may I dedicate it to my beta and best friend, ShadowShiningHeart aka Jennie :)

* * *

By the time Ray had got his act together and followed him outside, Gene was already leaning against the grimy wall, smoke curling effortlessly from the corner of his mouth. Conscious that he was probably trying too hard to emulate the younger, yet infinitely more impressive man, Ray nevertheless tried to copy the Guv's smoke-blowing technique.

"Ray?"

"Yes Guv?"

"What you pulling that bloody face for? You're an ugly enough bastard as it is!"

Spluttering indignantly, Ray managed to drop his unfinished cigarette in the gutter, after covering himself with ash, and gaining a rather nasty burn on his lip. An awkward silence sprung up between the two comrades and sometimes friends.

Gene continued to puff away on cigarette after cigarette, staring moodily into the distance. Ray, brushing himself down carelessly, wondered if he ought to broach what had become the hot gossip around the office. A moment later, much to his surprise, Gene made the choice for him.

* * *

"Women"

The Manc Lion surprised himself with the sheer force of venom he put behind that single word. He was grateful when his DS kept his trap shut, and simply nodded knowingly.

"I mean how're you s'posed to figure them out eh? They say one thing, mean another, and change their bloody minds as often as I hope they change their knickers!"

Ray chuckled appreciatively, and Gene felt sufficiently bolstered with fellow feeling to continue with his passionate invective.

"Take Granger. Turned down Chris's romantic offer of a trip down the chippy, really upset he was, then walks up to him later, middle of a meeting, says to him she's reconsidered, and would love to share a bit of his sole. Bold as bloody brass. Thass another thing . . ."

Gene trailed off, concerned at the scowl that had crept across Raymondo's face at the mention of the young WPC. Obviously she was causing a bit of a problem within his A-Team. Although Gene was glad to see young Christopher acting like a real man at last, perhaps he would have to _politely request _that they toned it down a bit at work. He was not about to let some _bloody woman_ - there he went again - spoil the all boys club, three amigos vibe he had going on with his junior officers. Lost in his own thoughts, Gene was slightly startled when Ray spoke up.

"I know wha' you mean Guv"

"You do?"

"Yeah."

Here Ray took a reflective puff on a fresh cigarette, and Gene prayed fervently it wasn't the selfsame one he'd dropped in the muck earlier.

"Too bloody full of themselves these days. Take Drake, for example. She acts all posh and hoity toity and bores us all to death with her psychi - psychog - mind-reading bullshit."

Gene snorted and nodded heartily in agreement.

"But underneath all that crap, you just know she's just desperate, just dying for a good, hard shag!"

Ray finished triumphantly, and promptly dropped his fag again. Gene looked at his DS with a sudden, complete sense of contempt.

"Watch yer mouth."

Ray, unaware of the warning undertone of the statement through his drunken haze, simply carried on.

"But listen, me n' Chris n' Shaz, we all know exactly what you think of her."

_Nudge, nudge, wink, wink._

"Really DS Carling? I wasn't aware you possessed abilities of the telepathic variety."

He watched with a cold sort of fury as Ray, realising suddenly that he may just have pissed over the line this time, tried to backtrack.

"We might have, sort of, occasionally joked about it, a bit."

"But how exactly would you know what I think of our esteemed colleague, when between the three of you, you have the mental and emotional capacity of a soggy digestive biscuit?"

Gene knew he'd cracked the shell of his junior officer, when a defeated look crossed Ray's face, and he abandoned all attempts at pretence.

"Well you know the other day when DI Drake made us search through all them manky rubbish bags?"

"Yes. Yes I do," came the testy reply.

"When you an' her 'ad gone, Shaz said we should have a look through your rubbish bin, just for a laugh like. And, and we found that drawin' you did, you know the one of you, and Drake . ."

Here Ray trailed off, and even had the grace to look a bit embarrassed. Gene closed his eyes, suddenly angry with himself; he knew he should have burned the drawing the moment he'd finished it. _So it was them who stuck it on the wall for all to see._

"Listen Guv, we're, uh, really sorry we stuck it up in the kitchen, I'm pretty sure she didn't see it though," Ray sounded hopeful.

"Well I damn well hope for your sake she didn't," Gene growled, struggling to keep a lid on his temper.

Cue another awkward silence, which this time fell to Ray to break.

"I know I've prob'ly said enough already, but if you don't mind me saying so, why don't you just go ahead and tell her you fancy the pants off her?"

For once the Gene Genie was totally speechless.

"I mean, we're all pretty sure she feels the same way about you."

This time Gene sighed heavily.

"Y'see Raymondo, I'm not so sure she does. I don't think I'm really Bolly's type."

"Ah but Shaz says she can see it in the way she looks at you. Y'know, all moony eyed and the like."

Gene thought for a moment, then . . .

"Well then I reckon it would only be the gentlemanly thing to put Bollyknickers out of her misery, and ask her on a date with my very good self, wouldn't you say so Raymondo?"

"Right y'are Guv. No time like the present eh?"

Gene smiled, stubbed his fag out, and prepared to go and meet his match.

* * *

Meanwhile, Alex Drake was staring morosely into the dregs of her last glass of wine. _How could that man be so bloody obtuse? _She thought she'd made her intentions pretty clear, but Gene being typically Gene had blundered straight past that and completely missed the point. Drinking up, she was almost ready to leave, when she noticed a crumpled piece of paper beneath Gene's seat that hadn't been there when she came in. Recognising the odd fragment of the Guv's handwriting , Alex reached out for it, and slowly opened it up . . . .


	3. Fear

Sorry I've been so long in putting this up, I've had a crazy couple of weeks with coursework deadlines etc. Thankyou for those who have been reviewing, favouriting, adding this story to their alerts - you keep my muse alive!

Hope its worth the wait :)

* * *

Gene strolled back into Luigi's, standing a little straighter, walking a little taller, like a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. After his conversation with Ray, he was feeling a deal more confident about where he stood with his DI. Now if only he could pull off asking her out without losing his cool . . .

In a few strides Gene had reached the bar, delighted to see Alex was just where he'd left her. He was slightly less delighted to see that she was bent over her glass like the weight of the whole world pressing down on her. Not, he sensed, the best mood for her to be in when he made his proposition. It appeared that a bit of buttering up was required, a bit of foreplay of sorts - Gene smirked as _that_ thought crossed his mind - before the inevitable question. He moved closer, then stooped gently to whisper in her ear.

"Never fear, the Gene Genie is here!"

Alex looked up, startled, and suddenly they were close enough to kiss. Her warm breath clouded against his cheek, and Gene closed his eyes briefly, desperately trying to maintain control. It wouldn't do to rush things, not now. And so he slowly opened his eyes again, to be confronted with the sight of her holding a suspiciously familiar, crumpled looking piece of paper in her lap.

"Oh shit!"

* * *

Shocked. Completely and utterly shocked. The only way Alex Drake could possibly have described the way she felt when she saw the contents of that crumpled ball of paper. As she traced the lines of Gene's doodle, Alex could feel the blush creeping slowly up her cheeks. She'd been aware, of course, of the thickening tension between them, so strong sometimes that she could barely breathe when in his presence. She'd even on occasion caught him watching her with those knee trembling blue eyes, and wondered what it would be like to let herself drown in them, to let herself drown in _him._ And yet she'd never even stopped to consider that Gene might really feel the same way; oh yes there'd been the frequent comments about her knickers, about the way she dressed, about stamping her bum, but she'd taken it for what it seemed to be at the time - genuine office banter. Now it seemed there was something more behind it . . . Alex shook her head sharply. Ridiculous, really, falling for an imaginary construct, borrowed from another man's fantasies; could her mind get any more absurd?

Refocusing her attention on the ever more tempting glass of wine sat in front of her, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. _Ridiculous, _she chanted to herself, _ridiculous, ridiculous, ridiculous _- Hang on . . . The doodle had been dated the day previous, scrawled so tiny that she'd pretty much dismissed it at first glance. Alex examined the paper carefully this time - _yes there was the date again, and wasn't it detailed, and oh god, how much did she wish it would actually happen, and weren't those pin marks?_

Before she knew what she was doing, Alex was out of her seat and across the room, crouching next to Chris, tapping his shoulder to get his attention. He turned to look at her, smiling, saw the doodle in her hand, and dropped his eyes to the floor.

"Chris its ok," Alex laughed nervously, "I just want to ask you something about it."

"It weren't me what drew it ma'am, honest, we just found it, I, I would never - I mean..."

"Chris, listen to me, don't worry, I know exactly whose handiwork it is. What I want to know is, was this what was pinned up in the kitchen yesterday?"

"Yes ma'am, it was Ray's idea, we found it after we did a search of the Guv's bin, just for a laugh like. I'm really so-"

"Thanks Chris, that's all I needed, I'll let you get back to your drink now, ok?"

Alex looked on fondly, as the young DC smiled gratefully at her, and turned back to the conversation, sliding his arm gently around Shaz's shoulders.

_Ah, young love_.

Alex returned to her seat, wondering what exactly she was going to do about the whole thing. Gene had obviously not intended it for her eyes, judging by the way he ripped it off the wall before she could catch sight of it yesterday. Should she respect that, and wait for him to reveal his feelings in his own time, which, admittedly would take an ice age, or just take the plunge and confess herself?

Lost in such thoughts, Alex had failed to notice Gene returning to her side, and so it came as quite a shock to her when his warm breath tickled her ear, and his gruff voice proclaimed she shouldn't fear because the Gene Genie was here. Lifting her head suddenly, her eyes met Gene's and Alex was frozen, just inches from his lips. She looked on nervously as he shut his eyes briefly, through nerves or exasperation, she wasn't sure which. When they opened again, Alex expected them to meet hers, and they did for a moment, before dropping to her lap and widening in horror. Following Gene's line of sight, Alex realised that when she'd lifted her head, she'd changed her position slightly, revealing the open doodle in her lap.

"Oh shit!"

Gene turned to stumble away from her, shame clouding his eyes, hiding the lion inside. And suddenly Alex was reaching out for him, her fingers brushing his sleeve softly. A touch as light as a feather, but enough to stop Gene in his tracks.

"Don't go."


	4. Pain

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A/N:

Well. Um. Wow. It _has _been a long time. I'm pretty sure you guys don't want to hear a long list of excuses, so I'm just gonna say sorry. And I must say I was amazed to realise there was still some interest in this story, so thanks! And as part of my thanks, its a little longer chapter this time. Hope you like. Email/PM me if you have any questions, and of course I always love reading your reviews, it means a lot. Enjoy!

**Dedicated to any who read, reviewed, favourited and alerted this story. Hope it's worth the wait!**

* * *

Her fingers reached out on some sort of instinct and caught the fabric of his sleeve lightly. It wasn't even a touch really, more the promise of a touch really, but it did the trick. He stopped. Alex looked up into his stormy blue eyes, and though her mind thought it a mistake, the words slipped out anyway.

"Don't go."

And she'd stunned him again, she could see that, although a small flicker of hope crossed his face, lighting him up, making him appear almost youthful. It was laughable that people called him old, that he considered himself old and past it because of that. When that hope had been there, he looked to Alex like a man with a child in his eyes.

She snorted to herself, realising she'd unwittingly quoted a song _again_, and then quickly covered it with a small cough. Gene would only see her snort as an insult, and seriously, how many more knocks to the ego could the man take today? She knew he had the reputation of the Manc Lion, but like any other man underneath it there was a small boy wanting to be loved and looked after. Although God forbid any of his mates found out.

"Gene . . .", she began.

"Look Alex, can we do this – whatever this is – somewhere away from the lads? I'd quite like to avoid being humiliated in front of my men again."

And there it was again, that soft side of him that no one else was allowed to know existed – she was surprised he'd opened up this much to her. Without a word Alex slid her fingers, a little more forcefully this time, into his warm grip and stood up, ready to lead him away from prying ears. As they discreetly – or so she thought – made their way to the stairs at the back of the restaurant that led up to her flat, she felt Gene squeeze her fingers convulsively, and squeezed warmly back. Behind them a loud cacophony of wolf whistles and cheers went up – obviously they hadn't been quite as subtle as Alex had imagined. She yanked on Gene's hand, hard, pulling him up the stairs behind her, before he had time to do much more than shout "Piss off!" over his shoulder.

Concentrating on nothing but fumbling to get the door open with one hand, and fervently praying there were no bras or anything hanging from the ceiling, it took Alex a moment to realise Gene had let go of her other hand and stepped back away from her. The lock clicked suddenly, and as the door swung inwards Alex stumbled over the threshold. She threw her hands out to catch herself before she fell all the way, but there was already a strong warm arm wrapped around her waist, holding her upright. Sighing heavily, she blew a curl out of her face, and muttered her thanks before moving out of Gene's grasp.

Wine. Wine. _Where was the damn wine?_ Alex rummaged through the kitchen cupboards, carefully keeping her back to him. Recovering a bottle of red and placing it on the side next to last night's glass, she leaned up to fetch one more glass. She missed grasping the stem by a few millimetres, and it flew off the shelf, shattering on the floor behind her. Cursing now, Alex fell to her knees, gathering together the ruined pieces of crystal.

"Alex"

She tensed up, almost surprised to hear his voice, rough and loud after the awkward silence of the last few minutes.

"Alex. Leave it."

* * *

In some ways the wine glass shattering in front of him reminded him of the moment he'd shot out the window of Chas Cale's restaurant. It always amazed him how, when glass broke, it shattered from something large and fairly solid into millions and millions of tiny, delicate shards. Gene Hunt was a big man, big and tough, and had never had much time for anything small and delicate. Or in fact being delicate.

"Alex"

He watched her carefully as the muscles in her back tensed up, but she said nothing.

"Alex. Leave it."

He couldn't stand this much longer; today Gene had been on a rollercoaster ride of emotions, and he wasn't bloody used to it. Ripping his tie from his neck, he advanced towards her.

"You bloody woman. Do as you're told and leave it for God's sake! If we don't have this discussion now, we'll never bloody have it."

Gene leant down, grabbed Alex round her bicep – _so thin, did she even eat? _– and pulled her up none too gently to face him. Unfortunately, in those silly, girly high heels that did something strange to his insides, Drake's lips were now on a level with his, a fact that temporarily short circuited the wiring in Gene's brain, and sent all the blood in his body rushing into his trousers. In that moment, it wasn't so much his life that flashed before his eyes, as a series of increasingly pornographic images starring yours truly and his really _very_ flexible DI. Gene felt his entire body stiffen as Alex's eyelids fluttered once, twice, then closed, as the tip of her tongue flicked out to moisten her lips, and her head inclined slowly towards his. Gene wanted nothing more than to just close the gap and kiss her, kiss her until he ran out of breath, kiss her until she melted into his arms and stayed there forever.

He stepped away. Breathing heavily, he backed away from Alex, though his mind was screaming out to him to step forward and brush away the confused tears pooling in the corner of her eyes. Taking a deep breath he gestured to the kitchen table, and she perched herself on the edge, as if she didn't have the strength to remain standing. Gene tried to ignore the vulnerability in her actions, as he collected his thoughts.

"The picture-"

"Gene, you don't have to expl-", she interrupted nervously.

"Look, don't interrupt, let me speak. I'm speaking now. Ok?"

Alex nodded softly, her eyes never leaving his face. His mouth was suddenly dry, and he had to choke to get the words out.

"The picture, the doodle, it was stupid and I'm sorry for it. I know it sounds soft, but when I saw where they'd bloody pinned it on the notice board, I realised how degrading it was. I feel dreadful, and the thing is, really, I don't want that from you."

"...the thing is, really, I don't want that from you."

* * *

Ice pooled in her stomach as Alex took in his last words. Gene had admitted he didn't want her, and it shook her to the core. Even how she could hear him starting to speak again, and it was like a background noise to the world of pain that had come crashing down around her. He'd finally shattered her fantasy, and she hurt more than she ever had in her life before her, more than when Phil left her, more than when Arthur Layton's bullet barrelled its way into her brain, more even than when she realised she'd left Molly behind.

"Get out."

Her voice was barely above a whisper, and yet she felt rather than saw the shock on Gene's face as his head jerked towards her.

"Alex, what? I haven't finish . . .There's so much more to say. I-"

"You heard me. Get _out._"

* * *

"You heard me. Get _out_."

There was a ringing finality to her words that left him cold as he staggered from her apartment. The sound of the door clicking shut behind him was like a death knell as he descended the stairs to the bar once more. She'd rejected him, thrown him out at his weakest point. And to think, he was just about to open his heart. He didn't want her in the way the drawing suggested. He wanted cosy nights in, lazy mornings in bed, a kind of average, but blissfully happy domesticity, and all with Alex by his side.

He'd been just about to tell her he loved her.

* * *

**A/N**: So yeah. . . Don't shoot! It is Galex, I promise! Please review :)


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